Since 1985, the lawyers at Shapiro & Appleton have dedicated their practice to helping people when they need it most. Our clients are usually down and out after a serious accident, struggling financially, physically, and emotionally. We take pride in advocating for the downtrodden and injured and getting the financial restitution they are owed.

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We are very proud of the success we have had in obtaining large settlements, arbitration awards, judgments, and jury verdicts. Our success is based mainly on our experience in courtrooms across Virginia.

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By adapting and being familiar with not only Virginia and North Carolina Courts, but also Courts throughout the Eastern United States, our attorneys have developed a set of skills that can be incredibly useful in every sort of significant personal injury case.

The attorneys with our firm actively engage in continuing legal education seminars in the field of injury law. Our lawyers have also regularly delivered lectures to personal injury lawyers not only in Virginia but at national trial organizations.

To stay on the leading edge of personal injury law, all of the firm's attorneys are active in local, state, and national personal injury trial law organizations. We also retain the services of forensic animators, videographers, and computer specialists to produce compelling evidence that will persuade a jury to award maximum damages.

Using Your Health Insurance If You are Injured in an Accident Caused by Another PersonThis video focuses on whether it makes sense for you to use your health insurance if you are injured in an accident caused by another person or company.

Cell Phone Notifications as Dangerous as Texting and Driving

Most people are aware of how dangerous texting and driving is. There has been plenty of public awareness campaigns, as well as changes in state laws, as a way to get the word out to drivers why they should never text and drive. Many cell phone companies and phone manufacturers have even come up with driving modes that people can set on their phones as a way to stop the behavior. Despite all of these factors, there are thousands of victims who are injured each year in distracted driving crashes caused by drivers who just couldn’t put their phones down. According to national statistics, nine people are killed each day in distracted driving crashes, and another 1,000 victims are injured.

The study team wanted to determine just how much of a distraction text notifications were compared to the actual act of texting and driving. What they found was that even just hearing the notification of an incoming text significantly distracted drivers from keeping their focus on the road. Researchers said that it was “really shocking” to find that notifications had the same level of distractions as engaging in actual texting activity.

The results showed that many drivers find that just the thought that someone was trying to reach them – whether by phone, text, or email – is as dangerously distracting as engaging in a texting conversation. In fact, receiving notification resulted in study participants three times more likely in making a mistake in a driving task as a driver who did not receive any alerts. This is three times more likely even though the drivers did not respond to the notification.

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The results of this study show that it is critical for drivers to make sure their phones are put away while they are driving and that driver mode settings should be put on. Unfortunately, no matter how safe we are as drivers, there is always the risk that another driver does not heed these warning.